Brittany Murphy

Actress + Recording Artist

Female

BornNov 10, 1977

Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack, known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl, Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys. She voiced Luanne Platter on the animated TV series King of the Hill. Her final film, Something Wicked, is slated to be released on December 12, 2012.… Read More

' During a moment when the facade of social media seems to be cracking, it’s easy to look to Instagram stars and wonder what’s real and what’s fake. Last month, Essena O’Neill, the Australian teenager who racked up more than half a million Instagram followers, quit Instagram after claiming that social media is “not real life.” At first glance, you might scroll through artist Audrey Wollen’s Instagram and see another aspiring model-type. She’s tall, thin and beautiful, which could easily ...

'I remember the day <mark>Brittany Murphy</mark> died. \nI was at my favorite coffee shop, sipping a non-fat, no-whip latte: my liquid lunch. \nMy mother called as soon as the terrible news exploded my Facebook feed. \"Did you hear about <mark>Brittany Murphy</mark>? Did you see her latest pictures? She looks terrible. She definitely had an eating disorder.\" See? \nSee, Elizabeth? \nThis is what happens. \nMy mother meant well. I have an abysmal history with food. When I was 21, I wei...

'\n In response to recent claims that <mark>Brittany Murphy</mark> may have died from poisoning, the late actress\' mother has written an open letter insisting that there was no foul play involved in her daughter\'s death.\n\nSharon argues that Brittany\'s father, Angelo Bertolotti, was not involved in his daughter\'s life until she began to gain fame in the mid-1990s after TV appearances and her role in Clueless.\n\nTo even mention that the heavy metals that were listed in his test are in ...

TEENAGE

Brittany Murphy-Monjack (born Brittany Anne Bertolotti; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009), known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American film and stage actress, singer, and voice artist. A native of Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and pursued a career in acting. Her breakthrough role was as Tai Frasier in Clueless (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent films such as Freeway (1996) and Bongwater (1998). Read Less

She made her stage debut in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in 1997, before appearing as Daisy Randone in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and as Lisa Swenson in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999).
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The 2000s saw Murphy with roles in Don't Say a Word (2001) alongside Michael Douglas, and alongside Eminem in 8 Mile (2002), for which she gained critical recognition. Her later roles included Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Spun (2002), Uptown Girls (2003), Sin City (2005), and Happy Feet (2006). Murphy also voiced Luanne Platter on the animated television series King of the Hill. Her final film, Something Wicked, was released in April 2014. Read Less

Murphy made her Broadway debut in 1997, as Catherine, in a revival of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge opposite veteran actors Anthony LaPaglia and Allison Janney.
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Murphy landed her first job in Hollywood when she was thirteen, starring as Brenda Drexell in the series Drexell's Class. She then went on to play Molly Morgan in the short-lived The Torkelsons spinoff Almost Home. Murphy also guest-starred on several television series, including Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Blossom, seaQuest 2032, Murder One and Frasier. She also had recurring roles on Sister, Sister, Party of Five and Boy Meets World.<br /><br /> Murphy's breakthrough role was in her second feature film, the teen comedy Clueless (1995), directed by Amy Heckerling, which went on to receive cult status. She followed this with roles in Freeway (1996), with Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland, and the independent comedy Bongwater (1998). In 1999, she landed a supporting role in James Mangold's Girl, Interrupted (1999) as a troubled psychiatric patient alongside Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie; and as an aspiring beauty queen in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). Read Less

She also voiced the character Luanne Platter on Fox's animated sitcom King of the Hill for the entirety of the show's run from 1997 to 2009, and Joseph Gribble until the fifth season.
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She was nominated for an Annie Award for voice acting in the King of the Hill episode "Movin' On Up".<br /><br /> She began the 2000s with a leading role in Don't Say a Word (2001) alongside Michael Douglas; the TV adaptation of the novel The Devil's Arithmetic (2001); 8 Mile (2002), for which she received critical acclaim; and Uptown Girls (2003). Read Less

TWENTIES

200224 Years Old
In late 2002, Murphy began dating Ashton Kutcher, her co-star in Just Married.

In 2003, she starred in the romantic comedies Just Married and Little Black Book (2004) and the critically acclaimed Sin City (2005).

Film critic Roger Ebert frequently acclaimed Murphy's acting talent and comedic timing, giving good reviews to several of her films and comparing her to Lucille Ball: As for Brittany Murphy, for me, it goes back to the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards where Murphy was assigned to present one of the awards.
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Her task was to read the names of the five nominees, open an envelope, and reveal the name of the winner. This she turned into an opportunity for screwball improvisational comedy, by pretending she could not follow this sequence, not even after the audience shouted instructions and the stage manager came to whisper in her ear not once but twice. There were those in the audience who were dumbfounded by her stupidity. I was dumbfounded by her brilliance.<br /><br /> Murphy followed with several independent films, including as Spun (2002), Neverwas (2005), and Karen Moncrieff's The Dead Girl (2006), as well as two Edward Burns films: Sidewalks of New York (2001) and The Groomsmen (2006). Read Less

200527 Years Old
Once engaged to talent manager Jeff Kwatinetz, Murphy became engaged to Joe Macaluso in December 2005, a production assistant she met while working on the film Little Black Book. In August 2006, they ended their engagement.

Murphy denied media reports that she had been fired from the project after being difficult on set, and cited "creative differences". Something Wicked, her final film, was released in 2014. <br /><br />Murphy's career also included work as a singer. She commented: "My singing voice isn't like my speaking voice I've just always kept it a secret and never taken credit because I wanted to learn how to work behind the microphone in a recording studio, and some of the singers don't even know it was me recording on their albums." <br /><br />She was in a band called Blessed Soul with fellow actor Eric Balfour in the early 1990s. Read Less

On June 6, 2006, Murphy and Paul Oakenfold released the single "Faster Kill Pussycat", from the album A Lively Mind.
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The song became a club hit, and hit number one on Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It also hit number seven in Oakenfold's native United Kingdom in June 2006.<br /><br /> She dabbled in music again with the release of the film Happy Feet, in which she covered Queen's "Somebody to Love" and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland". Murphy said about her character, Gloria, "Oddly enough, of all the characters I've played, Gloria is the most like me. And she's a penguin! George Miller always wanted one person to do both speaking and the singing. I said, 'I can sing,' and I asked him to give me a shot. I don't think he took me very seriously, because most actors say they can do most things." Read Less

200729 Years Old
In May 2007, Murphy married British screenwriter Simon Monjack in a private Jewish ceremony in Los Angeles.
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For the last three-and-a-half years of her life, Murphy, her mother and Monjack lived together in the same house.<br /><br /> In the early 2000s, Murphy lost a large amount of weight, which led to rumors of a cocaine addiction. In 2005, Murphy disputed such claims to Jane magazine, saying, "No, just for the record I have never tried it in my entire life." At this point, she had recently signed as the spokesmodel for Jordache jeans. Read Less

THIRTIES

In 2009, she was cast in the Lifetime TV movie Tribute, as the main character, Cilla.

In November 2009, Murphy left the production of The Caller, which was being filmed in Puerto Rico, and was replaced by Rachelle Lefevre.

In December 2009, Murphy died of pneumonia and anemia at the age of 32.
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The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office at first ruled her death an accidental drug overdose. However, when her widower Simon Monjack died from the same illnesses six months later, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services considered toxic mold in their home as a possible cause for their deaths, but this has been dismissed by the Coroner's Office. In 2011, Murphy's mother Sharon filed a lawsuit against the attorneys who represented her in an earlier suit against the builders of the home where her daughter and son-in-law died.<br /><br /> Brittany Anne Bertolotti was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Sharon Kathleen Murphy and Angelo Joseph Bertolotti, who divorced when she was two years old. Murphy was raised by her mother in Edison, New Jersey. Bertolotti was not named as her father on Brittany's first death certificate. Prior to her enrolling at Edison High School, the family moved to Los Angeles in 1991 so that Murphy could pursue an acting career. Read Less

At 8:00 AM on December 20, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "a medical request" at the Los Angeles home Murphy and Monjack shared.
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She had apparently collapsed in a bathroom. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene. She was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she died at 10:04 after going into cardiac arrest.<br /><br /> Shortly after her death, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told the Associated Press: "It appears to be natural." An autopsy was performed the day after she died. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as "deferred". On February 4, 2010, the Los Angeles County coroner stated that the primary cause of Murphy's death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of iron-deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication. On February 25, 2010, the coroner released a report stating that Murphy had been taking a range of over-the-counter and prescription medications, with the most likely reason being to treat a cold or respiratory infection. These included "elevated levels" of hydrocodone, acetaminophen, L-methamphetamine and chlorpheniramine. All of the drugs were legal and the death was ruled to be an accident, but the report observed: "the possible adverse physiological effects of elevated levels of these medications cannot be discounted, especially in her weakened state." Read Less

On December 24, 2009, Murphy was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.
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On May 23, 2010, her widower Simon Monjack was found dead at the same Hollywood Hills residence. In July 2010, Los Angeles Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter stated that the cause of his death was acute pneumonia and severe anemia. It was reported that the Los Angeles County Department of Health had considered toxic mold in their house as a possible cause of the deaths, but this was dismissed by Ed Winter, who stated that there were "no indicators" that mold was a factor. Murphy's mother Sharon described the reports of mold contributing to the deaths as "absurd" and went on to state that inspecting the home for mold was never requested by the Health Department. In December 2011, Sharon Murphy changed her stance, announcing that toxic mold was indeed what killed her daughter and son-in-law, and filed a lawsuit against the attorneys who represented her in an earlier suit against the builders of the home where her daughter and son-in-law died. Read Less

Murphy completed the thriller/drama Abandoned in June 2009 and it was released in 2010, after her death.